Chapter 16: Atlantis

"Into this city, all good things flow."

The loud sounds of blowing horns and provoked shouting gradually quieted as Akikta and the rest of the group were taken away from the Manta Maria.

After losing sight of the ship, Akikta observed how everyone else handled the situation. Nakji was still defiant, occasionally attempting to wrestle from the salmonids' fins. Inka looked terrified, not daring to move an inch as her wide eyes zipped between Akikta and Nakji. Marie was the same as Nakji, though there wasn't much she could do inside her glass cage.

Eventually, the four were dropped off at a big circular gray platform that stuck out above the ocean's surface.

After releasing them, the salmonids hovered close by, not getting within arm's reach of the group.

Akikta turned to Inka, who instantly grappled onto the platform's railing, trembling. She was more scared than he thought. "Inka, are you alright?" Inka responded by shaking her head quickly. Nakji gently touched her shoulder, concerned for her friend's wellbeing.

He recalled Nakji mentioning salmonids were real dangerous. The salmonids near them right now didn't seem all that bad, but if those bigger salmonids were anything to go by, they must've had a frightening impression on inkling society.

Akikta kneeled to Inka. "Listen, I know these things look scary, but you don't need to be afraid. They won't hurt us." Inka looked at him, still quivering. He'd place a hand on her other shoulder. "I won't let them hurt you."

Inka slowly composed herself, shaking less as a result. Suddenly, she pulled Akikta into a big hug, causing him slight pain. "C-careful. Those agents really messed me up..." She eased up on her hug, only letting go when Marie spoke up.

"You didn't say your boss worked with salmonids." The idol crossed her arms, clearly displeased with the current predicament.

"I'm pretty sure they're his pets. And he's not my boss. He's my friend," Akikta responded sternly.

Nakji turned to him, confusion written all over her face. "Pets?"

He turned to Nakji. "Yeah. They seem well trained."

"Aki... salmonids aren't things you can keep as pets."

"What do you mean? Metta had one."

"I don't know what the deal is with that one, but her situation isn't normal."

"His name is Little Buddy." Marie interrupted with a huff. "And he's a companion. Not a pet."

Akikta saw no difference in what Marie said but chose not to argue. "Pet, companion, whatever. He follows her around like a pet, doesn't he? It could be the same with these-"

"Salmonids are not pets!" Nakji repeated.

"You called them terrifying beasts!" he reminded. "Clearly, they'll listen to whoever tames them."

"They aren't creatures that can be tamed, Aki! What do you not understand about that?" she shook her head. "Yes, I called them beasts. But I never said they weren't intelligent. They don't just mindlessly follow simple commands; they have their own way of life!" Nakji explained.

Akikta was stumped. "Wait. So what you're saying is... they're sentient?"

Marie gave out a slight chuckle. "If you didn't know that, you really must not be from around here."

Akikta looked down, questioning what little he knew about the salmonids and their species. If they weren't pets, then what were they to Sal?

While he was lost in thought, a panel opened up in the middle of the floor, catching everyone's attention.

A long mechanical tendril slithered out. At the end of the tendril was a flashlight-shaped object. It looked at Marie and projected a bright green light that scanned her up and down. She covered her face from the sudden flash of light. After it finished its scan, the light glowed blue before disappearing.

Whatever this thing was, it did the same for the rest of them. However, instead of glowing blue at the end for Akikta, it shined red.

Once everyone was scanned, the mechanical tendril retreated into the hole it came from, with the panel closing behind it.

Then, the platform slowly ascended, taking the group high into the clouds. The propeller hat-wearing salmonids rose with them.

"Look!" Inka pointed below while holding onto the railing for dear life. Nakji and Akikta came over, seeing the platform they were on was the top of a long narrow pole that ran deep beneath the waves.

The next set of events shocked everyone.

Seven enormous structures breached the water's surface; each resembled a nuclear cooling tower with small windows and exterior lights. Six of the towers were positioned in a circular formation, with the seventh and largest tower being in the center of the circle.

All seven towers were connected to an even bigger structure, which appeared to be a gigantic dome.

As seawater washed off the rising megastructure, huge letters became visible on the towers' sides and the dome's top. Akikta was surprised to see the letters were in English.

"Atlantis..." Inka read, catching Akikta and Nakji off-guard.

"You can read that?" Nakji said, clearly unable to. Judging by Marie's facial expression, she couldn't understand what the words said either.

"Oh, I've studied many human languages in my spare time. Sorry... I thought I told you," Inka explained.

"Wait, that's written in a human language?" Nakji questioned; Inka confirmed with a nod. She then turned to Akikta, who gave her a tiny but noticeable nod.

A loud horn broke the quiet atmosphere, startling the group.

After a few seconds, the dome split apart and opened in four directions, revealing two things. One: they were only seeing the smaller top halves of the seven towers. And two: A massive metropolis hid underneath the dome.

Everyone couldn't help but gasp in awe.

Once the dome fully opened, the platform descended, a low mechanical whirring noise being made in the process.

As they went down, Akikta could see the water within the towers being drained out somehow.

When the platform reached its origin point, the railings lowered, making Inka jump.

Akikta peered over the edge, seeing they hadn't even reached the bottom of the metropolis. He couldn't even see the streets, assuming the city had any.

Suddenly, a long bridge extended from the platform into a zigzag line towards the center tower. The salmonids then grabbed Marie's jar and carried her along the path. One of which gestured for Akikta to follow.

He looked to the two girls, who waited for him to take the lead. With a deep breath, he cautiously walked down the metal bridge.

During their trek, Akikta got a nice view of Atlantis. Well, part of it. The place was utterly gigantic. Even at their height, he still couldn't see the whole city.

However, he could see plenty of shops and skyscrapers, as well as the many salmonids in and on them. There were food stores, supermarkets, hospitals, and so much more.

A lot of the buildings looked worn down, being covered in moss and coral. Only a few were in pristine condition. Despite this, all the buildings still seemed functional, considering their working interior and exterior lights.

Like on the outside of the dome and towers, words Akikta could understand were written on various signs and on the sides of skyscrapers.

There was no doubt in his mind now. Sal and his clan were human. That octoling really was trying to lie to him. Then again, there was no way she would've expected Akikta to be human too.

Still, he wondered what Sal and his clan's relations were to the salmonids. Were they partners of some kind? Maybe.

Perhaps the salmonids provided military security, and in exchange for their services, Sal and his people provided them with a home and food. That scenario made the most sense.

But even if the two were partners, it seemed like the salmonids went out of their way to save them, like they were a top priority. Sal was the one to send them, so if he could do that without issue, he must've been pretty high up in his clan- maybe even the leader.

Akikta's thoughts were cut off by a smokey aroma filling his nostrils. The smell wasn't bad, but it certainly was prominent. He sniffed the air, unable to find where it came from, until he looked up. The seven towers were now ejecting rings of red smoke.

Clouds that were once white started matching the smoke's color, and the sky gradually turned from baby blue to murky red.

Akikta focused ahead as the group reached a large circular door of the tower. Big bold words on the door read 'Chain of Command.' He assumed Sal was somewhere in this tower.

He was finally about to meet the man who helped him get this far. Then he'd be able to use this place to track down and restore his brother to who he once was. After that was done, he'd spend the rest of his days with Nakji and Inka.

He was unsure how two cephalopods would mingle and interact with a race they thought was long extinct, but Nakji got along with Akikta well. And so did Inka, even if she didn't know he was human. It'd probably be fine. Besides, Sal and his clan were working alongside a bunch of weird-looking fish people; getting along with a humanoid squid and octopus shouldn't be any more difficult.

Akikta smiled at the thought of his life returning to some form of normalcy.

A red light flashed above the door before it opened sideways, revealing a room of gray colors and blue lights. The salmonids hovered further along, forcing everyone else to speed up.

Akikta followed the salmonids through the tower's halls while Nakji and Inka huddled close together.

As he walked, a few puzzling thoughts came to mind out of the blue.

According to Sal, English was not his native language. If that were true, it made no sense why his clan would utilize the English alphabet. He already knew the salmonids weren't the one's doing the reading.

Ok, sure. Maybe the clan could read English better than they spoke it. But that didn't explain why Sal was comfortable sending Akikta, a child, to abduct Marie. He didn't think about it all that much until now, but he was certain the thing that made him special was his immunity to the new life's ink-based weaponry.

Akikta found it highly unlikely that his species would evolve to be vulnerable against ink. Humans have never gained such a trait from evolution in the millions of years they've walked the Earth, at least, as far as he was aware.

So why couldn't Sal send a trained adult humanto get Marie? Or better yet, why not just build machines immune to ink that look and act like the new life to infiltrate and nab her? Both ideas were infinitely better than sending a teenager. Especially if the New Squidbeak Splatoon was in the picture.

And, while Akikta still didn't care all that much, what did Marie do to Sal's clan that was so bad? From what he's seen, her sassy remarks are the worse thing about her.

All these questions made pieces Akikta thought he had put together fall out of place. He'd definitely have Sal clear all of this up when they met.

Eventually, they came across another set of large doors, and more red lights flashed. When it slid open, a dark room filled with salmonids greeted them.

The salmonids holding Marie's jar flew in, forcing the rest of the group to follow. Akikta scrunched up his nose when an intoxicating fishy smell entered his nostrils.

To keep his mind off the smell, he eyed the salmonids in the dark. Like the ones on the Manta Maria, they varied in shape and size. Some were big and fat, wearing overalls. Others were also big, but covered head-to-toe in armor. Or were those hardened scales? It was hard to tell.

All of them lacked legs, unlike Akikta and the cephalopods. They truly looked like overgrown fish with bulging eyes and crooked teeth. And, despite not having legs, they wore green pants.

Akikta spotted a few salmonids in the distance, stacked atop a tower of pots. Then he started noticing most salmonids had some kind of kitchen accessory on them. Pans, spoons, forks... It was strange.

The salmonids stared at the group as if they were a light snack. Inka and Nakji huddled closer to one another, practically hugging themselves. Akikta wasn't as uncomfortable as the girls.

He often ate salmon, so to him, he was staring at an armada of fish that could be prepared and sorted into plenty of signature dishes. The thought of eating these sentient creatures made him slightly salivate. It didn't help that the salmonids held various kitchen-based tools, practically inviting Akikta to come and eat them.

He shook his head, deleting the intrusive thoughts. These salmonids were people, not food. That's what Akikta told himself as the group followed the propeller hat salmonids.

They finally stopped at the center of the dimly lit room, dropping Marie onto a little cart so it was easier to move her around.

Akikta scanned the crowd of salmonids, not seeing any signs of other humans, let alone Sal.

Then, he heard a familiar voice. "Hey, hey! You made it!" Sal called out from the crowd.

Akikta darted his head in the voice's direction, a smile quickly appearing on his face. He couldn't see Sal yet, as the bigger salmonids blocked his line of sight. However, they gradually moved to the side.

As they did, he heard Marie whimper. "N-no..." Akikta turned to her. "It... c-can't be..." She sounded deathly afraid. In addition to her scared tone, her skin paled and her pupils dilated.

Did she recognize Sal's voice like that octoling? No way Marie also had history with him. That seemed like too much of a coincidence. But her reaction looked scarily genuine.

When Marie got kidnapped, she didn't seem the faintest bit afraid, always throwing in a sassy remark or mocking comment here and there. But now, she looked as though her worst nightmare was staring her down, unable to utter words without stuttering.

"Hey, A," Sal said, his voice sounding much closer. Akikta looked ahead, his eyes landing on a pair of black lips. Those lips then parted into a wide smile, revealing what was behind them. Akikta's smile faded away, only to be replaced by a face of shock and horror. "It's nice to finally meet you."

The teen expected Sal to look different in many ways. This was not one of them. "...Sal...?"